Twelfth Night, or What You Will: Act 2, Scene 4 Translation

A side-by-side translation of Act 2, Scene 4 of Twelfth Night, or What You Will from the original Shakespeare into modern English.

Original Text	Translated Text
Source: Folger Shakespeare Library
Enter Orsino, Viola, Curio, and others. ORSINO Give me some music. Music plays. Now, good morrow, friends.— Now, good Cesario, but that piece of song, That old and antique song we heard last night. Methought it did relieve my passion much, 5 More than light airs and recollected terms Of these most brisk and giddy-pacèd times. Come, but one verse. CURIO He is not here, so please your Lordship, that should sing it. 10 ORSINO Who was it? CURIO Feste the jester, my lord, a Fool that the Lady Olivia’s father took much delight in. He is about the house. ORSINO Seek him out Curio exits, and play the tune the 15 while. Music plays. To Viola. Come hither, boy. If ever thou shalt love, In the sweet pangs of it remember me, For such as I am, all true lovers are, Unstaid and skittish in all motions else 20 Save in the constant image of the creature That is beloved. How dost thou like this tune?	Back at Orsino's court, the Orsino asks "Cesario" to have his musicians sing the song he so enjoyed last night. Curio jumps in to say sorry, it was Feste—the fool Olivia's dad liked so much—who sang the song, and he's not here. Duke Orsino tells Curio to find Feste, and then turns his attention back to "Cesario" to offer some friendly advice about love, man-to-man...more or less. Orsino says if "Cesario" ever falls in love, he should be reminded of the Duke, who—like all true lovers—is unable to do anything but think of the one he adores.
VIOLA It gives a very echo to the seat Where love is throned. ORSINO Thou dost speak masterly. 25 My life upon ’t, young though thou art, thine eye Hath stayed upon some favor that it loves. Hath it not, boy? VIOLA A little, by your favor. ORSINO What kind of woman is ’t? 30 VIOLA Of your complexion. ORSINO She is not worth thee, then. What years, i’ faith? VIOLA About your years, my lord. ORSINO Too old, by heaven. Let still the woman take An elder than herself. So wears she to him; 35 So sways she level in her husband’s heart. For, boy, however we do praise ourselves, Our fancies are more giddy and unfirm, More longing, wavering, sooner lost and worn, Than women’s are. 40 VIOLA I think it well, my lord. ORSINO Then let thy love be younger than thyself, Or thy affection cannot hold the bent. For women are as roses, whose fair flower, Being once displayed, doth fall that very hour. 45 VIOLA And so they are. Alas, that they are so, To die even when they to perfection grow!	Viola ("Cesario") says she can relate. Orsino suspects that "Cesario" is in love and "Cesario" admits that yes, "he" is in love with someone who looks like the Duke and is about the same age. Orsino tells "Cesario" it's not a good idea for men to marry older women. "Cesario" should marry a sweet young thing because women age fast, which makes them less attractive. Women are also not as attractive when they're no longer virgins. (Yes, Orsino's being awful here, but he's also being a typical Elizabethan.) Viola agrees and says it's too bad roses (and women) go to seed just as they've reached the height of their beauty.
Enter Curio and Feste, the Fool. ORSINO O, fellow, come, the song we had last night.— Mark it, Cesario. It is old and plain; The spinsters and the knitters in the sun 50 And the free maids that weave their thread with bones Do use to chant it. It is silly sooth, And dallies with the innocence of love Like the old age. 55 FOOL Are you ready, sir? ORSINO Ay, prithee, sing. Music. The Song. FOOL "Come away, come away, death, And in sad cypress let me be laid. Fly away, fly away, breath, 60 I am slain by a fair cruel maid. My shroud of white, stuck all with yew, O, prepare it! My part of death, no one so true Did share it. 65 "Not a flower, not a flower sweet On my black coffin let there be strown; Not a friend, not a friend greet My poor corpse where my bones shall be thrown. A thousand thousand sighs to save, 70 Lay me, O, where Sad true lover never find my grave To weep there." ORSINO, giving money There’s for thy pains. FOOL No pains, sir. I take pleasure in singing, sir. 75 ORSINO I’ll pay thy pleasure, then. FOOL Truly sir, and pleasure will be paid, one time or another. ORSINO Give me now leave to leave thee. FOOL Now the melancholy god protect thee and the 80 tailor make thy doublet of changeable taffeta, for thy mind is a very opal. I would have men of such constancy put to sea, that their business might be everything and their intent everywhere, for that’s it that always makes a good voyage of nothing. 85 Farewell. He exits.	Feste enters and sings a song for the Duke about a man who is "slain" by a "cruel maid." Orsino gives Feste some money for his trouble and says it's late—he wants to go to bed. Feste makes a crack about how moody the Duke's behavior is before leaving.
ORSINO Let all the rest give place. All but Orsino and Viola exit. Once more, Cesario, Get thee to yond same sovereign cruelty. Tell her my love, more noble than the world, 90 Prizes not quantity of dirty lands. The parts that Fortune hath bestowed upon her, Tell her, I hold as giddily as Fortune. But ’tis that miracle and queen of gems That nature pranks her in attracts my soul. 95 VIOLA But if she cannot love you, sir— ORSINO I cannot be so answered. VIOLA Sooth, but you must. Say that some lady, as perhaps there is, Hath for your love as great a pang of heart 100 As you have for Olivia. You cannot love her; You tell her so. Must she not then be answered? ORSINO There is no woman’s sides Can bide the beating of so strong a passion As love doth give my heart; no woman’s heart 105 So big, to hold so much; they lack retention. Alas, their love may be called appetite, No motion of the liver but the palate, That suffer surfeit, cloyment, and revolt; But mine is all as hungry as the sea, 110 And can digest as much. Make no compare Between that love a woman can bear me And that I owe Olivia.	Orsino sends everyone away, except "Cesario." He tells "Cesario" to go see Olivia again and try one more time to tell her how much Orsino loves her. "Cesario" doesn't think it will work. Olivia has already said she can't love him, but Orsino won't accept that answer. "Cesario" says, but wait—if some woman other than Olivia loved you, you wouldn't love her back, right? Because you love Olivia and no one else. Pah! Orsino says no woman could possibly resist the level of passion he feels. Love works differently for women, and no woman is capable of being so in love as the Duke—his love is like the ocean, etc., etc.
VIOLA Ay, but I know— ORSINO What dost thou know? 115 VIOLA Too well what love women to men may owe. In faith, they are as true of heart as we. My father had a daughter loved a man As it might be, perhaps, were I a woman, I should your Lordship. 120 ORSINO And what’s her history? VIOLA A blank, my lord. She never told her love, But let concealment, like a worm i’ th’ bud, Feed on her damask cheek. She pined in thought, And with a green and yellow melancholy 125 She sat like Patience on a monument, Smiling at grief. Was not this love indeed? We men may say more, swear more, but indeed Our shows are more than will; for still we prove Much in our vows but little in our love. 130	"Cesario" disagrees and says that women are just as capable of love as men. "He" tells the story of his "father's daughter" who once loved a man but never told him. Instead she loved him from a distance, feeling incredibly sad but graciously accepting her fate. That sounds horrible to us, but "Cesario" says that's true love—truer, in fact, than the love of men who are loud about declaring their love but not as faithful with their actions.
ORSINO But died thy sister of her love, my boy? VIOLA I am all the daughters of my father’s house, And all the brothers, too—and yet I know not. Sir, shall I to this lady? ORSINO Ay, that’s the theme. 135 To her in haste. Give her this jewel. Say My love can give no place, bide no denay. He hands her a jewel and they exit.	When Orsino asks what happened to "Cesario's" sister, "Cesario" cryptically replies that "he" doesn't know, even though he is the only daughter and the only son in "his" father's house. If Orsino were paying attention, he might understand that Viola has just outed herself. But he's still focused on Olivia. Plus, Viola changes the subject FAST. She says, "Did you want me to give this jewel to Olivia?" before he can react to her strange statement, and off they go.

Original Text

Translated Text

Enter Orsino, Viola, Curio, and others.

ORSINO
Give me some music. Music plays. Now, good
morrow, friends.—
Now, good Cesario, but that piece of song,
That old and antique song we heard last night.
Methought it did relieve my passion much, 5
More than light airs and recollected terms
Of these most brisk and giddy-pacèd times.
Come, but one verse.

CURIO He is not here, so please your Lordship, that
should sing it. 10

ORSINO Who was it?

CURIO Feste the jester, my lord, a Fool that the Lady
Olivia’s father took much delight in. He is about
the house.

ORSINO
Seek him out Curio exits, and play the tune the 15
while. Music plays.
To Viola. Come hither, boy. If ever thou shalt love,
In the sweet pangs of it remember me,
For such as I am, all true lovers are,
Unstaid and skittish in all motions else 20
Save in the constant image of the creature
That is beloved. How dost thou like this tune?

Back at Orsino's court, the Orsino asks "Cesario" to have his musicians sing the song he so enjoyed last night.

Curio jumps in to say sorry, it was Feste—the fool Olivia's dad liked so much—who sang the song, and he's not here.

Duke Orsino tells Curio to find Feste, and then turns his attention back to "Cesario" to offer some friendly advice about love, man-to-man...more or less.

Orsino says if "Cesario" ever falls in love, he should be reminded of the Duke, who—like all true lovers—is unable to do anything but think of the one he adores.

VIOLA
It gives a very echo to the seat
Where love is throned.

ORSINO Thou dost speak masterly. 25
My life upon ’t, young though thou art, thine eye
Hath stayed upon some favor that it loves.
Hath it not, boy?

VIOLA A little, by your favor.

ORSINO
What kind of woman is ’t? 30

VIOLA Of your complexion.

ORSINO
She is not worth thee, then. What years, i’ faith?

VIOLA About your years, my lord.

ORSINO
Too old, by heaven. Let still the woman take
An elder than herself. So wears she to him; 35
So sways she level in her husband’s heart.
For, boy, however we do praise ourselves,
Our fancies are more giddy and unfirm,
More longing, wavering, sooner lost and worn,
Than women’s are. 40

VIOLA I think it well, my lord.

ORSINO
Then let thy love be younger than thyself,
Or thy affection cannot hold the bent.
For women are as roses, whose fair flower,
Being once displayed, doth fall that very hour. 45

VIOLA
And so they are. Alas, that they are so,
To die even when they to perfection grow!

Viola ("Cesario") says she can relate.

Orsino suspects that "Cesario" is in love and "Cesario" admits that yes, "he" is in love with someone who looks like the Duke and is about the same age.

Orsino tells "Cesario" it's not a good idea for men to marry older women. "Cesario" should marry a sweet young thing because women age fast, which makes them less attractive. Women are also not as attractive when they're no longer virgins. (Yes, Orsino's being awful here, but he's also being a typical Elizabethan.)

Viola agrees and says it's too bad roses (and women) go to seed just as they've reached the height of their beauty.

Enter Curio and Feste, the Fool.

ORSINO
O, fellow, come, the song we had last night.—
Mark it, Cesario. It is old and plain;
The spinsters and the knitters in the sun 50
And the free maids that weave their thread with
bones
Do use to chant it. It is silly sooth,
And dallies with the innocence of love
Like the old age. 55

FOOL Are you ready, sir?

ORSINO Ay, prithee, sing.

Music.

The Song.

FOOL
"Come away, come away, death,
And in sad cypress let me be laid.
Fly away, fly away, breath, 60
I am slain by a fair cruel maid.
My shroud of white, stuck all with yew,
O, prepare it!
My part of death, no one so true
Did share it. 65

"Not a flower, not a flower sweet
On my black coffin let there be strown;
Not a friend, not a friend greet
My poor corpse where my bones shall be thrown.
A thousand thousand sighs to save, 70
Lay me, O, where
Sad true lover never find my grave
To weep there."

ORSINO, giving money There’s for thy pains.

FOOL No pains, sir. I take pleasure in singing, sir. 75

ORSINO I’ll pay thy pleasure, then.

FOOL Truly sir, and pleasure will be paid, one time or
another.

ORSINO Give me now leave to leave thee.

FOOL Now the melancholy god protect thee and the 80
tailor make thy doublet of changeable taffeta, for thy
mind is a very opal. I would have men of such
constancy put to sea, that their business might be
everything and their intent everywhere, for that’s it
that always makes a good voyage of nothing. 85
Farewell.

He exits.

Feste enters and sings a song for the Duke about a man who is "slain" by a "cruel maid."

Orsino gives Feste some money for his trouble and says it's late—he wants to go to bed.

Feste makes a crack about how moody the Duke's behavior is before leaving.

ORSINO
Let all the rest give place.

All but Orsino and Viola exit.

Once more, Cesario,
Get thee to yond same sovereign cruelty.
Tell her my love, more noble than the world, 90
Prizes not quantity of dirty lands.
The parts that Fortune hath bestowed upon her,
Tell her, I hold as giddily as Fortune.
But ’tis that miracle and queen of gems
That nature pranks her in attracts my soul. 95

VIOLA But if she cannot love you, sir—

ORSINO
I cannot be so answered.

VIOLA Sooth, but you must.
Say that some lady, as perhaps there is,
Hath for your love as great a pang of heart 100
As you have for Olivia. You cannot love her;
You tell her so. Must she not then be answered?

ORSINO There is no woman’s sides
Can bide the beating of so strong a passion
As love doth give my heart; no woman’s heart 105
So big, to hold so much; they lack retention.
Alas, their love may be called appetite,
No motion of the liver but the palate,
That suffer surfeit, cloyment, and revolt;
But mine is all as hungry as the sea, 110
And can digest as much. Make no compare
Between that love a woman can bear me
And that I owe Olivia.

Orsino sends everyone away, except "Cesario."

He tells "Cesario" to go see Olivia again and try one more time to tell her how much Orsino loves her.

"Cesario" doesn't think it will work. Olivia has already said she can't love him, but Orsino won't accept that answer.

"Cesario" says, but wait—if some woman other than Olivia loved you, you wouldn't love her back, right? Because you love Olivia and no one else.

Pah! Orsino says no woman could possibly resist the level of passion he feels. Love works differently for women, and no woman is capable of being so in love as the Duke—his love is like the ocean, etc., etc.

VIOLA Ay, but I know—

ORSINO What dost thou know? 115

VIOLA
Too well what love women to men may owe.
In faith, they are as true of heart as we.
My father had a daughter loved a man
As it might be, perhaps, were I a woman,
I should your Lordship. 120

ORSINO And what’s her history?

VIOLA
A blank, my lord. She never told her love,
But let concealment, like a worm i’ th’ bud,
Feed on her damask cheek. She pined in thought,
And with a green and yellow melancholy 125
She sat like Patience on a monument,
Smiling at grief. Was not this love indeed?
We men may say more, swear more, but indeed
Our shows are more than will; for still we prove
Much in our vows but little in our love. 130

"Cesario" disagrees and says that women are just as capable of love as men.

"He" tells the story of his "father's daughter" who once loved a man but never told him. Instead she loved him from a distance, feeling incredibly sad but graciously accepting her fate.

That sounds horrible to us, but "Cesario" says that's true love—truer, in fact, than the love of men who are loud about declaring their love but not as faithful with their actions.

ORSINO
But died thy sister of her love, my boy?

VIOLA
I am all the daughters of my father’s house,
And all the brothers, too—and yet I know not.
Sir, shall I to this lady?

ORSINO Ay, that’s the theme. 135
To her in haste. Give her this jewel. Say
My love can give no place, bide no denay.

He hands her a jewel and they exit.

When Orsino asks what happened to "Cesario's" sister, "Cesario" cryptically replies that "he" doesn't know, even though he is the only daughter and the only son in "his" father's house.

If Orsino were paying attention, he might understand that Viola has just outed herself. But he's still focused on Olivia. Plus, Viola changes the subject FAST. She says, "Did you want me to give this jewel to Olivia?" before he can react to her strange statement, and off they go.

Twelfth Night, or What You Will: Act 2, Scene 4 Translation

A side-by-side translation of Act 2, Scene 4 of Twelfth Night, or What You Will from the original Shakespeare into modern English.

Original Text

Translated Text

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